FOV Jagdtiger Review

[tmanthegreat]

I got my FOV Jagdtiger yesterday from TheFlyingMule, opened it up, and so have my review. I will post pictures later on this evening.

Tooling:
The vehicle is all new tooling and uses quite a bit of diecast when compared to other recent FOV vehicles, making for a heavy tank - which a Jagdtiger should be! The upper hull shell, rear deck, fighting compartment sides and gun barrel are all made of diecast. the lower hull shell, wheels, fighting compartment roof and gun mantlet are plastic. There is no zimmermit and little "nicks and dings" are sculpted into the metal.

Features & Details:
The tracks roll very smoothly, at least on my example. The main gun elevates and has limited traverse. The tow-cables are seperate pieces that attach to the proper hooks. The spare track links are also seperate pieces that hang properly on their hooks on the side of the tank (a neat feature!) The top commander's hatch opens and you can make out part of the gun breach inside.

The rear loaders hatch, driver's hatches, and engine cover do not open as on the other FOV Kingtiger toolings. Also, tools such as the shovel, axe, etc are moulded on and not seperate pieces as on the other KT tooling. There was also no rear MG, though a hole is present on its mounting point so one could be included...

Accessories:
The tank comes with a good amount of additional accessories, including a large crate, 4 jerry cans, a panzershrek weapon, wooden barricade, sandbag fortification, info card, and the figure. The figure is nicely detailed. I guess the 8 spare track links and two tow cables could also be considered accessories.

Paint & Weathering
The vehicle is painted in a standard German "ambush cammo" scheme, which is nicely done. In person, the colors appear more flat and not as bright in some of the pictures already posted. There is hardly any serious weathering as has been done on FOV tanks in the past, save for what may be a browin dusting on the wheels and lower hull. The paint job is overall rather clean.

Overall Impression
Overall, I am pleased with the tank and happy to have it added to my collection. The overall accuracy of the tooling and the amount of diecast are very positive points for the model. It is worth the $50, but not much more. The lack of opening hatches is really my biggest beef, I guess because I was spoiled by all of them on the 21c 32x Jagdtiger as well as those present on similar FOV tanks. (Heck, the FOV Jagdpanther nearly has a full interior!) This lack of more working features detracts from the model and makes it not quite as good as it could have been.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Thanks for another detailed and very informative review.

I saw the photos of the Jagdtiger on Flyingmule for the first time last night and was disappointed that it didn't look like the model in FOV's PR photos---but that's typical---FOV's PR photos are usually outstanding. The Jagdtiger in the PR photos had a much darker paint scheme, which I liked, as compared to the light paint scheme of the real model. In Flyingmule's photos it looked like the Jagdtiger didn't have the usual weathering and dents found on some of their previous armor which you confirmed in your review.

My favorite FOV 1/32 armor model is the M26 Pershing.

I have to check out the interior of my FOV Jagdpanther---I never opened the hatches except to insert the commander figure so I wasn't aware it had anything in the interior.

[tmanthegreat]

Yes, the FOV Jagdpanther has something approaching an interior, or at least moreso than what one finds on the typical FOV vehicle where there is next to none. The Jagdpanther interior is very simplistic, but you can see the 88mm gun breach, hydrolics, and the ammo bins, particularly when looking through the large loader's hatch on the rear of the vehicle.

Wish they had done something like that on the Jagdtiger!

[NHoggard12]

thanks for doing this; i haven't decided if I will get this one.
Does the travel lock work?

looking forward to the photos

[dragon53]

Again, I was disappointed the Jagdpanther didn't look as cool as the PR photo.


Here is the link to Flyingmule's photos of the real model of the Jagdtiger:

http://www.flyingmule.com/products/UM-80059



Here is a link to the PR photo of the Jagdtiger:

http://www.wartoyz.com/page/WT/PROD/FOV-WW2-T/FV80059

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

im disappointed in the weathering even the reissue of the SdKfz.7/1 80039 has no weather were as the original had alot of real world details. i think they are getting to be more like the big box store releases. which in my opinion is a mistake. although the extra gear is nice i no longer have the time to add details. thats why the enthusiast edition worked best for me. factory fresh isnt what enthusiast was to be!

[tmanthegreat]

As promised, see the photos of the FOV Jagdtiger below. I tried to take them in as natural light as possible (i.e. no flash) so that the colors would come out much as they appear in person.

Enjoy













While difficult to see in the above picture, the Jagdtiger is slightly longer than the King Tiger - which is true to real life

[NHoggard12]

Thanks for the pics; commander figure looks good
i might just get one and weather it up nicely; pop some of the fenders off

[PanzerArm]

Nice review.

I bought this beast myself, and I have to say I think it is too big. When you put it side by side with the FOV King Tiger, it is longer than it should be. If I recall correctly the chassis was lengthened by 40 cm/15 inches on the real thing, but it appears to me the FOV's chassis wasn't just lengthened, but the whole side's dimensions were just scaled up. The notable difference betweeen the two ways of making it longer is that instead of the skirts being the same size as the King Tiger's (as they should be) they are noticeably longer when placed next to the KT's. Also, the overall length added (I didn't actually break out the ruler) appeared to be about the length of the commander's lower leg, or roughly 20-24in./50-60cm, so they made it too long!

I'd be curious to see what it looks like next to a 21st Century one. Mine is all packed away


-Kevin